Sic Semper Tyrannis
by Errant Knave
Summary: Post Curse Swan Queen
1. Chapter 1

Sic Semper Tyrannis

Note: this was started before the finale, and the curse was broken not by true love's kiss but by the death of its creator. This being a Swan Queen offering, I hope deviations from canon shall be forgiven :)

Flog: I shall also post this on tumblr, which I am an absolute noob at, hence the name Naive Knave. I am running on rusty writing skills so your prompts would be welcome

Disclaimer: made not for profit, but for fun.

Chapter One

Magic, dark or light, is never exact and even small, unintended variations can ripple into unexpected consequences. Knowledge of magic passed as lore contains a trickle of truth mixed with a great deal of imaginings, and spells and curses can be undone in many ways beyond lore. Thus it was that the curse that created Storybrooke, Maine was broken not by true love's kiss, but by the death of the creator of the curse, Mr. Gold, at the hands of his true love, the tragic, bewildered, young Belle.

They found her sitting outside a stable, still regal, and she looked on at the mob as if chastising them for being late for her execution. The merciful thing would have been to remove her head from her shoulders, but Regina understood the poetry behind her glass coffin. It wasn't a coffin, really, but a facsimile of her home in Storybrooke. From what she could tell, tons of fairy dust must have been used to create this illusion of Mayor Mills, alone in what appears to be an empty town in Maine. Of course she tried to get out of her yard, but an invisible shield kept her from venturing beyond it. She wondered, though, if Snow herself was responsible for a significant alteration in her backyard. Her apple tree was absent, and the spot where it should be was now an eyesore. She had no guards for none were necessary and her only means of communicating was the quaint way she was allowed to put in requests for provisions on the mailbox.

She repeatedly requested for news about Henry, but there was only ever silence on that front. Once she even asked about the savior, Miss Emma Swan. Regina knew Henry would easily acclimatize in Fairy Tale Land, aided by his intelligent young mind, but Miss Swan would be, as they say, a stranger here. She had a lifetime outside Storybrooke, one in which she was an orphan, and here, in a sense, she would continue to be the odd duck. Aside from loving Henry, that was perhaps the other thing that they share, of being that thing that didn't quite fit in.

The illusion created night and day, but Regina didn't trust that time would be the same as that in the rest of Fairy Tale Land. She herself would have loved the opportunity to punish an enemy with a distorted sense of time, making it faster or slower as she wished. She made use of the mailbox as her diversion, and she tested its limits the same way she tested the invisible barrier in her yard. She thought of impossible requests and made note of what they granted. Of course she tried to ask for weapons and none were given. She requested books, DVDs, and porn - and magically appeared in her foyer by the time she went back in her home. She asked for gardening tools, for herbs, for various objects that would occupy her mind and make use of her energy. She asked for alcohol and other mind-altering substances, but was frankly only expecting cigarettes off that long list.

It was while smoking that she began to draft a letter, not to Henry, whom she wanted to write to first, but to the one person who might make it possible for her to communicate to the boy somehow, Princess Emma of Fairy Tale Land, who was Sheriff Swan of Storybrooke.


	2. Chapter 2

Note: this is an unbeta-ed mess. I hope you enjoy it anyway.

Chapter Two

Emma clenched her jaw as she presided a heated argument over bushels or barns or somethings of corn currently taking place between two farmers. After the matter of Regina, or Queen Regina, this trifle was the most colorful issue to come across her plate. She all but demanded to be put in charge of the peace and order situation of their kingdom because she would sooner jump off a tower than be this reality's version of a pampered valley girl.

As Princess Emma, long lost daughter of the House of True Love, even her self-defined position as law enforcement agent was pointless. They would agree with her, even when she once tried to settle something through a coin toss. Her father, King James, looked on with amusement while her mother used her mother glare, perfected as a teacher in Storybrooke, to get her to undo her folly.

The most significant aspect of her position as Princess Emma was that she insisted on being the main authority on everything to do with their Zeroeth Prisoner, whom she insisted everyone, and every record refer to as Queen Regina, rather than the Evil Queen, or other less polite terms they learned as Storybrooke residents.

"Henry, Prince Henry, was ten years old by the time he found me. We can be here until all cows come home if we want to argue about nature and nurture, but I was there when Queen Regina declared her love for your Prince and I believed her. The Blue Fairy would surely testify to her sincerity. And you, who watched Henry grow in Storybrooke know what a smart and respectful boy he turned out to be, and that despite his doubts, he grew up with love, guidance, and protection from Mayor Mills or Queen Regina..." That was part of her argument to quell the thirst for Regina's blood.

The War Council (Version 2.0, since it now includes herself and Henry) agreed on imprisonment for Regina, and the populace was told that her sentence was to be trapped in Storybrooke. It was safer for Regina and for the Charmings to let most everyone think that the former queen was unreachable.

The truth was, her Storybrooke prison was in a courtyard of the palace, where the now famed apple tree still grows. The enchantments on it meant that only those who did not wish to harm Regina could see in her prison and be as ghosts who could watch Mayor Mills in her new, old home. Well, anyone of age, because everything from the mail box went through her and she couldn't risk exposing Henry to Regina's more colorful expressions of cabin fever. The enchantment was an amusing litmus test that she would occasionally use on certain members of the War Council. To date, only Ruby and Kathryn have passed; however, they could only stand outside her house, whereas Emma could wander about inside the mansion. She attributed it to the fear they still had of Regina. Regina's silent visitors also enjoyed the masking effects of the enchantment, and for a few minutes of most every day, Emma would be absent from her new home, and silently sharing Storybrooke with their prisoner. Before she had the fairies upgrade the enchantments to PG-13, she sadly found out that Henry failed the test, but Emma was hopeful that his youthful confusion about his mother would be overruled by the realization that they were family, and that he loved her, too.

Regina's first letter was a mixture of questions about Henry and a list of reminders related to his health and education. It read, to Emma, like Regina was away for a conference and she was the untrained babysitter. She subtly mentioned to Henry that Regina was asking about her, but all he could eke out was a strangled, "I'm not...I don't know..."

"It's okay, Henry, you don't have to do or say anything. Whatever you think or decide about your Mom, I'll be here to listen and support you."

So she pretended that the first letter didn't exist, and although she knew it was unlikely to be the last of its kind given Regina's stubborn nature, she gave herself some time before thinking of how to respond.

The next letters contained less questions and more directives. Regina decided to include materials that she deemed unsuitable to be used in Henry's education, like a list out of the restricted section of the library of Hogwart's. She debated showing the list to Henry because it might have the opposite effect of making him curious about them. A few well-placed questions confirmed that most of them were the equivalent of anarchist cookbooks. Certain titles made August smirk and Ruby giggle, which told her that those might be in the Kama Sutra range of things.

Over the next few months, going back to Storybrooke has become her escape. She hoped that the enchantment extended to Granny's Diner but asking for that now would raise too many questions. She knew that especially in comparison to Henry she still seemed adrift in her new life. Her parents, and it was still disconcerting to call them that seeing as they all looked like they could have been classmates, indulged her need to reconnect with her old life. At first she was fine with staying outside the porch of the mayor's home. She found though that the magic creating the place enabled her to sense Regina as she floated about inside. She laughed when she jumped and actually hid the first time her vigil was unknowingly interrupted by Regina who went to the mailbox to deliver yet another one of her letters. She found herself strangely disappointed that the other woman didn't sense her presence. She knew that Regina spent a great deal of her time on the doorway of Henry's room. Once, her curiosity proved too strong and she found herself watching the older woman crying just outside their son's room. She watched as Regina ambled back to her bedroom. Emma intended to leave then, but magic acted on her strongest impulse and the next second she appeared inside Regina's room, as the Mayor of Storybrooke started taking off her clothes to get ready for bed. She took sips of wine between removing articles of clothing. By the time Regina slipped naked under the covers, Emma's eyelids tightly shut together as she mentally repeated a plea to be let out of there.

_What is with magic consistently screwing with me?_, Emma thought. She could sense that she was still in the same room. She gingerly moved to the other side of the bed and slid next to Regina. _Might as well get comfortable while waiting to be let out of this hostage situation._

There will be lengthy talks about this with what she dubbed the Magic Circle. People can't just be trapped back in Storybrooke like this. She knew if they tried hard enough they would find her; the bits of magic that naturally came with being the product of true love could be used to like a GPS.

Regina began to stir in her sleep and Emma took the opportunity to observe her. Even in slumber her thoughts seemed heavy and painful.

"Henry is fine," Emma whispered, unsure about what she was trying to accomplish. "He misses you, he's just dealing with a great deal. I'm sure you understand. Hell, if we were really having this conversation I know that you would have rolled your eyes at me by now. I believe that you loved him, I was wrong to think otherwise. I was overwhelmed by the idea of someone depending on me like he did when he came to my door. And I reacted... hmm, I'd rather imagine how you would have described me. I'm thinking the term "immature" would be squeezed in there."

Maybe she just imagined it; she was getting sleepy, after all, but Emma thought she sensed a softening of Regina's features. Even a small smirk at her self-deprecation.

"Henry is proof that you're not evil, or not evil anymore. I won't let anyone forget that. I... I owe you so much for Henry turning out the way he did. I'll do everything I can to see to it that you are dealt with fairly, for all the bad and the good that you've done. I'll be as stubborn about that as I was about not leaving Storybrooke in the first place."

This time, there was no denying that the familiar smirk was present.

"Goodnight, Mayor Mills."


	3. Chapter 3

Note: Still unbeta-ed, proceed at your own risk :)

Chapter Three

Starting a letter stumped about what to call the recipient is the beginning of a challenge. Finding the line between polite and almost lying just adds to the complication of the task.

_ Dear Regina,_

_ You might be wondering why Henry hasn't written you._

Emma was going to make sure that he writes soon, even if it's just the crappy version of a Hallmark Card. Queen Snow still wishes she had the "We're glad you didn't kill Mrs. Nolan" oversized card from Henry and his classmates.

_ As you can imagine, we – he and I – are new at this magic business and those who are in the know about it are a bit rusty so we just wanted to make sure that communicating with you could be done safely._

_ In the meantime, I am happy to report that he takes on to everything here like a duck to water. I know he didn't get his love of learning from either biological parent, so his aptitude for all sorts of knowledge, magical and practical, must be your influence._

She could practically picture Regina in one of her favored suits, straightening a bit at the praise of her son and then showing part pride and part suspicion at being complimented. Somehow, her mind's eye was stuck in the image of the Mayor's lips pursed as she was served the search warrant for her property a lifetime ago.

_ I do personally make sure that your messages reach him. I have also asked his tutors to consider your suggestions._

Well, really, they were closer to edicts, but there really is absolutely no need to agitate Regina. None at all. They have a formidable genius of a woman in solitary confinement. That should be taken into account at all times.

_ For now writing like this is the only way you two could reach each other. Soon enough, he would demand to see you and then adjustments would have to be made for that. _

_Thank you for the list of "banned books". It wasn't your intended result but you sort of pointed me towards interesting reading materials. Between you and me, I would gladly sacrifice some fairies and unicorns for Internet access._

_ E.S._

Emma waited as the envelope bearing her letter disappeared magically from her desk. Archie or Jiminy's advice was that magic is easily swayed by strong emotions and he tactfully said that Emma was probably much too curious about Regina which is why she spent the night trapped with her in the New Storybrooke. Between the lines, Emma thinks he wanted to say, "You are homo for the ho." Ruby almost killed herself from laughing when Emma told her about it.

While group she dubbed the Magic Council was trying to make an escape hatch that she and only she could activate, Emma decided to limit herself to staring out at the courtyard from within the castle walls. Her eyes are drawn to it often enough to give Ruby cause for teasing.

"I understand the attraction, certainly. If she wasn't so damn scary I might have made a move on her myself." Ruby laughed at the look on Emma's face.

"It's not like that. She's just...interesting. In that Hannibal Lecter way."

"Sure."

"There are less complicated options, if I were looking."

"And I shall be privileged to be your wing woman. You're gold dust when it comes to attracting groupies."

"I've seen you flirt with all sorts, Rubes, so I have to ask, how come I am not on that list?"

"You're hot as Hades, Sweetie, but I was the person who scoured the Enchanted Forest for flora and fauna that would help your mother's pregnancy crazies. I tend to think of you as a surrogate something or other."

"Daughter?" Emma knew that bringing up the age card would make thing spicy.

"Fuck you."

"A much, much younger sister, then."

"Listen, Princess-Who-is-Ogling-THE-Forbidden-Fruit, I could just let certain things slip during my oh-so-friendly chats with your mother."

"You wouldn't."

"Course not. But I may require bribes for that to remain true."

"What are we talking about?"

"For starters, you, me, fifty of our hottest residents, gallons of wine and Rated R potions..."

Snow White and Prince Charming want to do the "Cool Parents" routine, but Emma finds their discomfort about her dating habits amusing. It wasn't much of dating but more of dabbling, and the kingdom has its share of prime choices - prime, feminine, willing choices.

Too willing most of the time, she thinks. Before the curse was broken, she has never before been dated for being anything other than Emma Swan, bail bonds collector, hardened graduate of the foster system. Now she is their kingdom's version of an eligible Prince William. There are two things working to her advantage in terms of dating and marriage: one, she already produced an heir and two, because her parents are the poster couple for true love, there is no chance of her being pressured into any match that isn't of her own choosing.

"Deal. A wild party in exchange for your silence."

"Nuh-uh. In exchange for my silence around your mother. But I retain my rights as your friend to bug you about your crush. Your bigtime, googly-eyed crush."

"Shut the fuck up, Lunatic."

"Shut yourself, Princess Kardashian."

"Oh, you just want war, now."

"Psh, you haven't delivered my bribe yet, Sheriff Sweetness. I am not yet bound to keep your secret." Ruby carried on with her teasing until their banter evolved into actual party plans.

Meanwhile, in a shack in the Enchanted Forest, Grumpy, aka Leroy, aka the former Dreamy, wondered where the hell he misplaced his ax.


	4. Chapter 4

Note: Unbeta-ed, AU mess. You have been warned :) Thank you to all readers, especially those who take the time to make their presence felt. LadyRahl, perhaps no magic is strong enough to keep them apart for long, yes? ;)

Chapter Four

The axes that he and his brothers bear look unremarkable. Dwarves keep none of the diamonds they dig, and none of the fairy dust they help produce. Their daily toil would seem pointless drudgery to observers. But ancient magic binds their axes to the mines and the mines to the monarchs ruling the Enchanted Forest. While she was queen, Regina made it impossible for Grumpy and his brothers to work at the mines, and the fairies were forced to put up resistance with dwindling stock of their powerful dust. The dwarves complied with their banishment from the mines because as Regina's power grew, they felt estranged from their work and its purpose in the struggle of light against dark magic. Bending the fairies to her will was too much work, and Regina thought the mines inconsequential without someone to create fairy dust. Just the same, she assigned guards to prevent anyone from entering the mines. The long buried truth was that should the mines be ruled by a dark monarch, as the case was during Regina's rule, the diamonds themselves would be imbued with dark magic.

When Grumpy found his axe outside their hut, he felt something strange when he touched it, as if it had been sullied somehow. He thought at first that it was because he was hungover, as he had been for most of his days in Storybrooke. The heaviness he felt increased as he joined his brothers at the mine. Finally he asked Doc to check him out as he took an unexpected break during their work day. As Doc settled his axe next to Grumpy's, a strange spark emerged and Grumpy felt lighter somehow. Bossy, who has never seen such an occurrence began to examine both items and started asking Grumpy about what he remembered about the short disappearance of his axe. He produced a map of mines, and after an incantation the map began to show a few veins that were tainted with dark magic. With Snow White as Queen, it shouldn't be so, because the mines should reflect the goodness of her character. It would seem that the mines remembered Regina and the three went off to the part of the mine that held on to her. Bossy didn't dare voice his suspicions, but the astute Doc sensed and shared them. Grumpy, on the other hand, just wanted to know how to get his mojo back. Another incantation revealed a small spot, recently struck, presumably by Grumpy's axe. Whoever managed to obtain that small piece of diamond knew where to look, and knew enough about the mines and the dwarves to single out Grumpy's axe and to dig in this specific location. Grumpy has always been burdened by a sense of discontent, and as far as Bossy remembered he was the only dwarf who needed to be rechristened. His nature explains why his axe was susceptible to being swayed to serve darkness. And all three suspected that it was made to do so while it was out of Grumpy's possession.

"We must tell The Blue Fairy," Doc hesitantly said.

"What about Snow?" Grumpy asked. Sister might be Queen now, but to Grumpy, she will always be a sister first, a monarch second.

Bossy declared, "There is no need to alarm her and the rest of the royals before we know more." He glared at Grumpy, knowing how close he was to both Queen Snow and Princess Emma. "Right?"

"I hear you."

The glare continued as Bossy remained unsure of his cooperation.

"My trap will remain shut."

Elsewhere in the kingdom, Emma flopped on her royal bed, alone, and frustrated. The party was going well, even if flirting on this side of reality was still weird for her. Ruby was a useful decoder until inevitably she was lured by someone shiny.

Her someone shiny was Lady Vivian, who responded extremely eagerly to a cheesy "May I be so bold as to ask for a kiss?" from her Princess. Emma was inching to third base when she heard a breathy "I'm so glad you're going to be my first."

"The first woman you slept with...?"

The would-be conquest looked at her in wonder, "The first ever."

"Wow." This is no tavern wench she'll be tapping. This is the kind that whose family would show up the morning after demanding what would amount to marriage. _Okay, there might be a bit of an exaggeration there_, Emma thought, _but I can't do this_. _I'm among people who believe in true love and who wait on it and who would risk life, limb, and sanity for it._ "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to rush you into anything."

"But you aren't rushing me."

"You deserve more. More, uh, wooing. And I'm not one for wooing. So...I don't think I'm the one you're meant to be with." Seeing that she hasn't quite softened the blow as well as she aimed for, Emma continued, "There's someone I'm trying to forget and I do apologize for almost taking advantage of you."

"Is it Prince Henry's father?"

"No." _I barely remember the dude_. _"_Someone else._"_

To Emma's relief, the other woman began to take her leave shortly after her lie. She began to trek to her private chambers, trusting that Ruby would not mind her absence.

The shortened encounter with Vivian left her unsatisfied and as she moved to close her curtains to remedy the situation she saw Regina's house, with a faint light coming from what Emma knew to be the Mayor's bedroom. Naturally, Emma's mind conjured the memory of Regina naked under the sheets. She yanked the curtains closed and settled face down on her bed. She took a couple of deep breaths, hoping to calm herself out of a solo act with Regina in her brain. When she finally allowed her hand to drift under her pants, she kept telling herself that it was because of Vivian that she was that wet and that determined to slowly draw out her orgasm. It was the noblewoman's willing mouth and soft skin that got her to crest, Emma told herself, and not the thought of a particular someone else.


	5. Chapter 5

Note: Unbeta-ed. Thank you for reading and sorry if the story is moving a little slowly. I, too, want some real-time swanqueen interaction soon, but the muse disagrees. Maybe she'll change her mind by the next chapter.

Chapter Five

The court was surprisingly full of laughter considering that the first announcement was one of the minor kingdoms waging war on its neighbor.

The mirth followed the slight confusion because King Homer of Guadas and his realm were so little known that texts had to be dug up for reference. Guadas was a small kingdom, a fiefdom almost, that was agricultural in nature. The idea that it would attack its neighbor that abutted the Enchanted Forest was almost nonsensical.

"King Who?" Henry asked.

"King Who Dat of the Kingdom of Over There, you know, him. With the face, and the arms..." James carried on, much to his grandson's delight and of those in attendance.

"Wait, does he have a cousin called Cindy Lou?"

The Queen tried to hide her smile but as the two continued their banter, the struggle to keep her laughter in was becoming more difficult.

Once facts were made known, Snow announced that matter would now be delegated to Emma.

_More farmer squabbles,_ Emma thought, "_but at least this time it would be a regional event, rather an than intramural."_

She couldn't wait for the assembly to end. Days ago, she had woken up to find a letter on her desk.

_Princess Emma,_

Emma rolled her eyes at that. Of course, she would revert to being the uber-polite Mayor Mills.

_Thank you for news of Henry and for your kind words. Allow me the gesture to spare us both having to dance around the truth that he does not wish to have anything to do with me, else he would have found a way to write or talk to me. Our (yes, our) son is highly intelligent, resourceful, astute, and stubborn. I'm sure if he truly wanted to he would use how much sway he has over your parents and you (stop rolling your eyes) to get to me. He must be so filled with wonder at everything about his new world, and Fairy Tale Land could only adore him more for that. That he would grow up loved and with a sense of belonging is enough._

_I didn't expect to get a response to any of the letters I sent and I even doubted that they were being read by anyone at all, other than to check my lists of necessities and luxuries._

_As for your entertainment needs, I think that bigger game is required for Internet access in this realm. You might have to add a dark witch or two to your list of potential sacrifice victims. Alternatively, you could hire someone to kidnap Bill Gates. I'd do that for you but I am currently trying to read all of Shakespeare in Esperanto, because why the hell not?_

_Sincerely,_

_Regina Mills_

_PS: I was kidding about Shakespeare in Esperanto. I am translating it, not reading it._

Emma could practically picture the smirk on Regina's face as she wrote that post script. There would be time enough to imagine more of Regina in New Storybrooke later. Right now the gathering has been officially adjourned. She bid her family a quick goodbye and cornered The Blue Fairy for her amulet and her spell. The amulet was to serve as her escape hatch from Storybrooke, there was a complicated explanation that tethered it to familial love, blah blah. Getting the Blue Fairy to agree to the spell was like going to the dentist – necessary but unpleasant. The spell is meant to allow her to share pre-selected memories with Regina. She had to squint a little to make sure that the fairy had not lapsed into shock.

"You want to allow the Evil Queen into your head?"

"I want to share memories of Henry with Queen Regina, yes."

Her wings sped up as she flew to and fro across the room in what Emma thought was the fairy version of a freak out. Once she started slowing down and her glow started to abate, she said, "I'm curious as to how dangerous or safe you think that idea is. Tell me, Princess, what do you think is the worst that could happen with that spell?"

_Well, shit. No wonder she was Mother Superior of Storybrooke. Hmm... Have you ever seen that episode where Buffy and Faith switch bodies? Maybe that. But I am going to phrase it nicely and without the pop culture reference._

"The very worst that could happen – although the idea makes it sound as if my will and intelligence didn't matter at all – the worst scenario is that she gains control of my thoughts and actions. Again, let me state that I hope my ability to think and act for myself should be considered into all of this."

"I'm not doubting your strength of mind and character, Princess Emma. Additionally, being born of true love -"

At this point, Emma couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes.

"- A concept too easily dismissed in the other realm – being a child of true love means that you are inherently magical, despite your best efforts to thwart that through cynicism. That would be a source of protection for you. It seems to me, though, that you underestimate her."

"I do not. She has been stripped of magic and you know more than anyone how black magic is ineffective in her new home."

"But you would be bringing magic to her. We cannot be certain that she won't use you and yours to her own ends."

"No, what we are certain of is that I fought to keep her alive because of what she did for our son and because it would damage Henry if we executed the woman who raised him. Before I enact the spell make it so that Regina has to make a binding oath or something and she can't see beyond what I wish for her to see or do any Jedi mind tricks on me."

"It isn't only the mind that she can tamper with. Literally and figuratively, the Queen is adept at taking and breaking hearts."

Emma didn't know how such a small pair of eyes could convey that much suspicion.

"I'm her only connection to Henry; she won't risk hurting me if only because of that."

She considered that before saying, "Very well, I shall now give you your amulet." The fairy drifted close and pointed her wand at Emma's pendant, which glowed for a few moments during which the Princess felt safe and connected to the unconditional love of family.

"No fair, I already owned that one."

The Blue Fairy smiled, "Hiding in plain sight and all that. She must have seen you wearing that in the past and she will think nothing of it when she sees it again."

"And the spell?"

"Hold out your left hand, palm up."

"Hey, what the hell?" She exclaimed as a wound appeared on her palm and started bleeding while the Blue Fairy stared intently on the blood and appeared to Emma to be whispering.

She raised her wand and just like that the wound and the pain was gone. "There you are, Princess. Now all you have to do is get the Queen to drink even a little amount of your blood willingly, and whenever you wish it, your memories or experiences of Prince Henry, and only of Prince Henry, shall be shared with her. Like a magical version of youtube. I made your account Child friendly, or rather I made your uploads Henry-specific." She finished, looking rather pleased with herself and her internet references.

"She needs to drink my blood? That's supposed to be safe?"

"The vampire lore of your world, or your erstwhile world, was amusingly wrong on that account. It was the one who drank the blood of a living creature who was made a slave to the donor, so to speak. The one who drinks alters herself by allowing the life essence of another to seep through her own system. But this spell is not about enslaving anyone, you would merely be sharing the magic in your blood that is about young Henry, nothing more. And only if she agrees to it."

"Theoretically, what would happen if she also shared her blood with me?"

"Theoretically, that would be what's known as kinky stuff."

Emma's shock and rapid blinking only made the fairy enjoy herself even more.

"Relax, your willingness to accept whatever she is trying to accomplish through that would be vital for her to succeed. What's more, because you are magical yourself, there's a great deal of unknown variables that should make her wary of even making the offer." She added, "Jokes aside, please consult someone before you do something like that. It would be difficult to undo such binding."

"Ah. So can I go now?"

"You should know that the amulet alerts me whenever you enter and leave her prison. It will also raise an alarm if it senses that you are in mortal danger."

"Guess that makes you Big Sister...or Little Big Sister."

A mild glare was followed by, "if an emergency should arise, I rigged it so I can pull you out of there. I assure you that I would use that function with discretion."

"C'mon, now. Did Storybrooke not get the "My body, my choice" memo?"

"I could always change my mind about all this covert magical business."

"Fine. And thank you."

"Please be careful, Princess Emma."

"Oh, I will."

Emma headed for a window facing the courtyard, extremely tempted to drop by for another visit, this time as a corporeal being. In the end she decided to ask for Regina's permission first. She remembered how the Blue Fairy referred to her home as a prison, which it was, really. It would be cruel to take away even the small things that she could control given her current situation, including who to accept or bar from her company. Emma amusingly thought of how she now finds herself as Regina's champion, while Snow silently watches her daughter stare at the direction of Regina's apple tree, where she knows that a cloaked copy of the mayoral mansion now sits.


	6. Chapter 6

Note: I think I previously apologized/warned about logical lapses, OOC tendencies. There will be many more to come :) And I'm too lazy to correct them. Still unbeta-ed.

**Thank you to all those readers who make their presence felt :) **

Chapter Six

A computer with internet access is among the growing list of conveniences that Emma would ask of the fairies. It was a rapidly growing list and from what she understood it was all feasible, but not of importance to the running of the kingdom. In short, we have to sweep up after the evil that befell us and your childish requests shall be dealt with much, much later. What's more, they need to be careful of the changes they introduce to this world, someone said during the meeting while Emma half listened, and half stared at the palace grounds.

Royalty were entitled, or damned, to having their deeds recorded somewhere by their own scribes, and by the scribes of their enemies. The non-event called King Homer's war ended with some sort of truce or merging, so once again, peace reigned beyond the borders of the Enchanted Forest. The records would be updated to reveal the new changes regarding their neighbours.

The topic of records made Emma think of how a google search of Regina's reign would be so useful to satisfy her curiosity about what the other woman was like as a monarch. For her, and for Henry, the "evil" part of her rule was always in the abstract. She ruled with fear, but she also gave other kingdoms cause to fear the crown she bore, whereas before Regina theirs was regarded as a prosperous yet benign kingdom. In her mind, she regarded the scribes as the tech department of big offices, with some lingo adjustments. The head scribe, or top geek, was a sixtyish man called Noel. She asked for the records while Regina was queen, but was pointedly told that those were now in The Queen's possession.

"Were you the Chief Scribe to Queen Regina?"

"No, Princess, he died a few years ago. I took his place."

"What do you remember of that time?"

A hard look came over Noel's face, but he schooled it before giving a stoic, "Everything of importance that I know I put in the records, Your Highness."

"Ah, a polite version of go ask your Mother, then?"

He nodded. "I see that the love of knowledge runs in your family. I've been told that a certain Prince has been visiting our stores of knowledge, not directly requesting for things but very keenly taking on how things are arranged and removed from our rooms."

_Casing the joint. That's my boy._

"He seems to have a curious way of losing tiny non-existent pets at strange locations. I won't be surprised if he can find a way to enlist certain real and winged creatures for his own designs."

"He likes learning about this world. He's determined to cram everything into that brain." She stopped herself before she could point out which parental figure gave him that trait.

The records will have to wait. Tonight, she will be having dinner at Storybrooke, following an exchange of letters with Regina.

She won't be coming empty-handed, what with her mind full of Henry's recent adventures and misadventures. A few more snapshots of his smiling face couldn't hurt.

Seven-thirty PM was the time Regina would be expecting her to show up at Storybrooke. It took a series of letters for them to agree upon it and this land's version of instant messaging was taxed by their rapid exchanges. Regina's letters to her appear or "land" inside a secret drawer in a table in her chambers and are magically encrypted to be for her eyes only. When she is away, she has an attendant periodically check the drawer and have any mail delivered to her – via birds, if necessary. For her side of the equation, she need only write the traditional postal address to the mayoral mansion on the letter, fold and visualize it inside the mail box. The paper would disappear and show up there. By itself, the system works perfectly and easily lends itself to smooth communication. The paranoia of one of the participants in the communication process was the only hitch. Regina all but told Emma she expected the latter to show up with the townspeople armed with pitchforks, torches, and kindling for the funeral pyre. Emma didn't strictly need the other woman's permission to show up at Storybrooke, but her personal experience with being a prisoner would not allow her to barge in there without Regina's say so.

_I have news about Henry I must deliver personally. Don't worry, it's nothing bad._ Not a lie, Emma thought, and it's not my fault that this particular truth sounds like emotional blackmail.

When she sought out Henry, she asked him all the sorts of questions that she knew would make him light up like it was Christmas and the last day of school and having ice cream all in one moment. As the boy excitedly rushed to tell her about his experiences and plans, Emma weighed the option about telling him her new "superpower" and her upcoming visit to Regina. She tested the waters by taking him for a walk around the courtyard and bringing up the older woman in conversation.

"You know, as tough as your Mom was, I kinda miss having someone who could so easily boss you around, and make you do stuff like eat vegetables."

"There are plenty of reasons why she became known as the Evil Queen and that should be added to those."

_Ah, so it would probably be a while yet before he gets to see the other Storybrooke, _Emma thought. She loved Henry, but she wishes the time he could acknowledge gray areas would come soon.

"Would those reasons have anything to do with you lounging about the archives?_"_

"Do you know that Gran had most of the records of The Evil Queen's -"

"Henry, you will either call her Mom or call her Queen Regina. I said it and I will support whatever you decide about her but it's time to stop thinking of her as a monster. She loves you. I know it and I believe it and you know it, too. If I hear you call her evil one more time, I would make sure you miss out on some of those magic lessons you enjoy so much. Are we clear on this?"

Henry's eyes squinted a little in defiance. Emma swore that had he followed it with some slight lip pouting he could pass for Regina's biological child.

"But she was so...bad."

"She did bad things, kid, and she had bad things happen to her. Like me. Unlike me, she managed to raise you and turn you into this decent but too-curious boy." She threw her arm around him, hoping that she would get through.

"Why do you take her side?"

"Because she's on your side and I'm on your side and so you see, we're all on the same side. Dude, our side is crowded with the popular kids".

Henry smiled. "you are such a weirdo, sometimes."

"How dare you! I am a weirdo all the time, Sir!" Emma held his face, "I'm not kidding about your Mom, though. I know what it is to experience abuse and neglect, Henry, and she made plenty sure you didn't get to know what those are. She loves you."

"I suppose."

"See, if someone else had raised you, you would be all, Whatevs, yo. This shit cray."

The boy began laughing at his mom's performance. "Princess Weirdo!"

"Tell me something you miss about her."

"Why?"

"Please?"

Henry scrunched his face. "A couple of boys used to be mean to me, in school. They kept saying I didn't have a dad because I was such a wimp and a nerd that he took off when he saw me." Henry picked up a rock and examined it as he continued, "I didn't tell Mom but I guess she heard them or she found out somehow. She talked to them and scared them, I guess, because they stopped bothering me. I also remember -" He looked up and around then, a look of confusion on his face, "-huh, I thought I saw a house just then... Anyway, when I was younger, she told my classmates that it was tradition that I be Mayor for the Day on my birthday and they have to do everything I say. And they did! Well, they tried. I thought it would be fun to have firemen on my birthday at school so I tried to tell someone to pull the fire alarm but he was too scared. It was fun."

"I want you to try and remember more of those. And write them down or something. You're the only one who knows those things about her."

"You mean like add to the stuff they have, like those scary looking official records?"

"Yeah, why not? After all you are prince for life, and not just mayor for a day. They really do have to do what you say..." She paused for a bit, remembering the firemen tale, "...within reason. You're eleven, they might ask me or your grandparents for approval."

Emma then steered their conversation towards more recent events in his life, such as his lessons in courtly life (deadly boring!), his swashbuckling with his grandfather (awesomest awesome from awesomeville!), and his education about magic (maybe we should make all worlds magical! And everywhere would be AWESOMEVILLE!)

She gave herself an hour to get ready for dinner with Regina. Half an hour away from the appointment, she was starting to regret not telling Ruby, or anyone, about it because she wanted someone to tell her that it was going to be just like another encounter with the Mayor back in the real Storybrooke. She gave everyone the excuse of a headache and the need to sleep it off. She remembered that there would be someone who would know about this visit, but talking to the Blue Fairy about Regina felt truly wrong. As the time drew closer, she thought that she should feel like a warden looking in on a prisoner – which, technically, she was, but the strange feeling in her gut was more for a first date.

_A first date with a woman you accidentally spied on while she was naked._ _ A woman you thought about while you - _"Jesus Christ in a bucket," Emma hissed. She took a swig of the wine she had been nursing for a while now, afraid of drinking too much before their dinner. She grabbed the bouquet of flowers that she wanted to give to her hostess, as well as a small box from Kathryn. She touched the amulet and in a blink found herself standing before the familiar white door of Regina's prison.

_Well the butterflies in my stomach have now been joined by a monkey doing a jig on my chest,_ Emma thought as she pressed the door bell.

"Good evening, Princess." Regina answered the door wearing a purple shirt that was matched with a black skirt. In her trousers and white shirt, Emma felt like an awkward commoner.

"It's Sheriff, actually. And good evening, to you, too, Madam Mayor."

Regina smiled a little. "Come in and make yourself at home."

"This is from me and Henry," Emma handed the flowers to Regina, "and this is from Kathryn."

"Henry sent me flowers?" The quirked eyebrow indicated her disbelief.

"He did." Emma smiled through her obvious lie, praying that Regina let it go.

"Are you still staying for dinner or do you just want to stay in the living room and discuss whatever it is you wish to tell me about him?"

She followed as Regina set her gifts down and walked towards the dining room. Through letters, Regina offered and Emma accepted a dinner invitation, and she now recognized that the Mayor was giving her an out if she wanted it.

"Unless you're on a vegetarian kick, I'd like to join you for dinner, first."

"I'm in stasis here, Sheriff. There's no need for dieting of any kind."

_Right._ Emma recalled how this house was designed to be similar to the effects of Snow White's glass coffin. "Can I help with anything?" _Wow, I've never been this polite to her back in the old Storybrooke. And Lord, Woman, could you be a little less attractive, please? It's too distracting. _

"You can pour yourself some wine and then go sit at the table."

_Substitute milk for wine and she could have been talking to Henry_, Emma thought as she observed how gracefully Regina seemed to be handling everything. She noted, though, a certain softening in the other woman. When she noticed the same in her letters, Emma dismissed it as a product of her own imagination. There were times, though, when she would write a letter and then watch the courtyard, and be the only one to see Regina walking outside and tending to her plants. She couldn't stop looking the first time she saw Regina looking so casual in jeans and a plain t-shirt, an outfit that she probably never would have used back in Maine. Then there were nights when she sat out the front porch with her wine and her cigarettes. Those were the nights when servants would find their Princess asleep in the guest room below her personal chambers, the room with doors that led to the courtyard. They say amongst themselves that something in it must remind her of the life she led while she was parted from them; none were surprised when she finally moved in it despite the more lavish room she used to occupy. Most of the residents of Fairy Tale Land were worried, though, that she has yet to settle down with someone despite the long list of worthy men and women asking for her hand.

Dinner passed with talk that covered subjects they already covered through letters: things they missed from Maine, things they definitely did not miss, the weather, talk of Henry, the fact that Granny was a badass in any reality you throw her in...There was an undercurrent of too much politeness, and it was getting exhausting for Emma. She didn't have the practice that Regina had, first as Queen, then as Mayor, in manufacturing tremendous amounts of tact and inconsequential talk.

As soon as desert was done, Emma asked if they could go to the front porch and continue drinking wine there, instead. As she expected, Regina agreed, as any polite host would. Regina was surprised to have Emma smoking alongside her. She was even more surprised when she saw the expert drags the blonde took. "You should be careful, Princess, time doesn't stop out there. This indulgence would cost you."

"We all gotta go sometime." Emma tried to give off a smirk but only managed a weak, sad smile. "You know, I think about what would have happened had I listened to you and left Storybrooke in the first place." She glanced at the other woman and wished that she was wearing those casual clothes she used when she thought no one was looking. "All of us won't be in this situation."

"Hmm. You mean this situation, where 99% got their happy endings and the villain is locked away?"

"I think 99% is an overestimation." They locked gazes for a moment and Emma saw the resignation in the other woman. She felt anger, _in Regina's behalf, _and she swigged most of her wine and wondered if a swift blade would have been the more humane choice. _I fought for this_, she thought, _I wanted to give you a chance at redemption. For Henry. _Seeing the punishment in effect, though, has given her cause to doubt whether it was kinder to have let the public have Regina's blood instead of this slow suicide that they are now making her undergo.

"Would you have chosen this, over other punishments?"

Regina regarded Emma curiously, as if wanting to know more about what the blonde was going through, but instead she looked past the yard and said, "This is what I have to deal with, Miss - Sheriff Swan, and I choose only to deal with it as best I can."

They silently sat there, with only the occasional sound of the bottle clinking against glass and the rare soft hiss of burning cigarettes. Emma was trying to drown out the strange feeling that she wanted to hold and be held by Regina in that moment.

"About Henry, I asked the Blue Fairy -"

"Blue Gnat," Regina interjected and made motions with her hand that Emma thought meant either a shooing motion or one encouraging her to go on.

"I asked her for a way to get you to see Henry through my memories..."

Regina looked at her and with a finality said, "No. I can more or less guess the method she used and I can't."

"You haven't even heard -"

"Emma, please." She reached out a hand and rested it on the other woman's knee. "I'm grateful that you wanted to do this but I can't accept this for so many reasons. First among them is the fact, that this way I would only be seeing Henry through your eyes, to see him as he sees you. You tell me in your letters that he's happy and I would rather see my own memories of him being happy to go with those. He has only ever looked at you with adoration. As far as I know he has never looked at you as a disappointment." She withdrew her hand then, as if only realizing then where she put it and regarded it for a few moments, trying to seem disaffected by her own revelations. "Second, I used the same method on certain persons. It explains some of those victories and alliances that kept me on the throne. You won't have anything to gain by having me in your thrall – not in my condition - but I suspect the Blue Gnat is using this opportunity to remind me of past transgressions."

"I didn't know. About you using the spell." _I really need to get those records. _Hoping to change the tone of the conversation, Emma added, "And I really pushed her into it, so I doubt she meant to do that."

Regina closed her eyes for a moment and Emma watched as she took in deep breath and slowly opened her eyes. "Thank you, though, for what you tried to do." She smiled then, and it was genuine, sad, and heartbreaking.

"He is getting so big..." Emma began, trying to recall and fully express all the memories that she didn't talk or write about earlier, in anticipation of being able to let Regina share them magically. She added tales about her own foibles, most of them arising from her ignorance about her new world. Even the pointless King Homer was raised, and Regina made her promise to keep watch of those affairs, because Homer and his people have never been known to start trouble and therefore bigger things and persons could be behind it.

"No, no." Emma insisted, aware that the wine could be starting to win. "No politics tonight. Some other night, maybe, but not tonight." She realized then that she just _invited herself_ to the Mayor's house. What's more, the amused look on Regina's face, and the - there it is – puckering of the lips - told her that the slip was noticed.

"Wait here." Regina said as she stood up.

Emma helped herself to more wine while waiting.

Regina sat back down on the steps, closer to Emma this time and held out a key. "I know you are entitled to come and go as you please, as a princess. But here, take this." She waited for a smiling Emma to take the object. "Now, officially, mi casa es su casa. Ring the bell, though, because for all you know, I could be walking around the house naked."

"Oh. Well, for all you know, maybe sometimes, I could forget to ring the bell. It happens." Emma playfully shrugged her shoulders. "What with my less than acceptable upbringing."

"Huh. Are you already bored of the royal buffet?"

Emma laughed and Regina quickly joined her. "You minx!"

"Oh, you don't know half of it, Sheriff."

As the two women moved on to talk of more amusing things, across the yard were two figures, one watched Emma while the other spoke, "What are they doing now?"

"More of the same Your Highness, talking and laughing." The Blue Fairy said, for only she could only see them, because of the amulet and aspects of its newly-gained magic that Emma had not known.

"You are sure she would be safe in there?" Snow White asked, as she looked out at a seemingly empty space, save for an old apple tree.

"Yes, and especially if the Evil Queen agrees to the spell."

"Queen Regina." Snow White said with a sigh, "Emma insists that she be called that."


	7. Chapter 7

Sic Semper Tyrannis

Note: In my mind – crowded, icky place - the Enchanted Forest is a part of Fairy Tale Land, the kingdom ruled by Snow White. I know, I should come up with another, more realistic sounding geographic name. But no. Because it is so in the crowded, icky place above my shoulders. I do hope you keep reading, though.

Chapter Seven

Regina woke up to the smell of coffee. She ventured out and found Emma seated on the bottom of her stairs.

"Hey." She said as she looked up and gave Regina a half smile and half-grimace.

Regina gave a sleepy sigh and joined Emma. She belatedly tried to recall where she put her robe as she sat in her nightie.

For her part, Emma busied her eyes with other things when she saw what Regina was not wearing. _Trust her to still not dress like a slob while in solitary confinement._

The mayor took a sip from the cup of coffee she slowly took out of Emma's hands.

"Want me to get you your own cup? I was gonna make you one but I didn't know how long you would be asleep."

With a scratchy voice, Regina answered, "No, I'll have some more later." She put her hand on Emma's thigh as she struggled to get back up. "I'm still a little out of it so let's get comfortable over there."

Emma followed as Regina lay down on the couch. Instead of sitting on the arm chair across it, Emma sat on the floor with her back next to the couch and Regina's head close to hers.

"What's wrong?"

"Ugh. Asking me what's right would be a much shorter list." Emma looked up at the woman next to her, and found it hard not to blurt out how much younger and attractive she looked sans make up. "Would it be considered an act of war if someone accidentally killed a messenger reading out a dowry list? A list that included 40 healthy cows?"

"You're an eligible royal. Marriage proposals come with the territory."

"Well, the good news is that no one, I mean no one – including you, no one can call me worthless anymore. I'm forty cows walking, baby!"

"You are ridiculous. Not worthless, true, but extremely silly."

"Maybe if I stepped out of the way and let Henry be Crown Prince, there would be less of that bullshit."

"Don't. There's always danger to being in line for the throne, no matter how peaceful the times appear to be." She shifted upwards to rest against the arm of the sofa. "You would make an excellent human shield for him - all brave and impulsive and noble," she added in a teasing tone.

"You just called me a stoopid, you over deyrrrr."

"Would I do that?"

"Only since day one."

"Day two."

"Oh, really," Emma said as she moved from the floor to sit on the couch, squishing Regina's legs. "After that disapproving look at my clothes and my car?"

"Was it undeserved?"

Emma put her mug down on the table and said, "You know what, I'm here on a mission, and I need to tell you about it but after you put some clothes on, instead of lounging there like you're waiting for a photographer or somebody."

Regina looked at her intently then and waited for the blonde to continue. She slowly drew her legs up, knowingly exposing more of herself. She watched as Emma looked up at the ceiling and then passed it off as merely rolling her eyes.

"Aww... still haven't found the right friend with benefits? Maybe you should try the nymphs again."

"Christ, no. and you could have told me about their... floral-scented hoohas. And how needy they were." She said as she headed out the door and to the kitchen.

"I told you they fed off flattery and would do anything for you as long as you keep telling them how beautiful they were." Regina followed suit, "As for their unusually sweet smelling, uhm, parts...I didn't want to ruin the surprise."

"I want and expect a woman to taste and smell like a woman. Those nymphs are just.. wrong. That detail ruined it. They were all perfect looking and perfect smelling and just too much perfection. Plus my brain hurt from having to think of different ways to tell them that they are SO hot."

"What about anyone of the less fair sex?"

They crossed the foyer and Emma began to head towards the kitchen. "See, now I know that you definitely hate me."

"I don't hate you, Sheriff, unless you touch anything else in my kitchen."

"Hey, you already let me do the dishes the past couple of dinners I had here."

"Each time with my supervision."

"Huh. That is true." Emma sounded as if she did think about it before confirming what the other woman said. "Get decent. Or dressed. Whichever would take sooner."

Regina was halfway up the stairs when Emma reappeared, "do me a favor, wear casual clothes. The suits make me nervous." Emma didn't hear the rest of what was said but she was sure she heard the formal wear of her world compared to peasant swaddle unworthy of a queen.

"So what's this mission you speak of?"

Emma appraised what the other woman was wearing, and she was glad to see her in comfortable jeans and a black tee.

"First of all, lookatchu... walking around without the stick up your ass! Yay!" She paused to receive a smirk from the Mayor. "Second, it's serious business about a magical version of the panic room. And third, Woman, I am guest here. Make me a sandwich."

Regina began rooting around for the demanded food while saying, "First, stop ogling and don't even think of using nymph-tested ways on me. The second matter we shall discuss after I've had an entire cup of coffee. Third, you're a pest, not a guest but I shall still feed you. I'm classy that way."

"Annndd you don't trust me to make my own food and ruin your immaculate kitchen. Hey, speaking of nymphs, want me to smuggle you one?" Emma was initially kidding when she said that, but these days she finds herself increasingly goading Regina, hoping to embarrass her. _Or ...something._

"No, thank you. One pest is enough."

"Just worried about you. I mean... you know, needs and all..."

"To paraphrase one Woody Allen, I am perfectly fine having sex with someone I love." She said as she wiggled the fingers of her right hand.

"Sex with someone you lurrvvrve a lot."

"Can you blame me?" She gave Emma an exaggerated batting of her eyelashes.

"No blame. Just worried about your large, large head."

"Shut up."

With a smile, Emma began talking about other topics, mostly about Henry and former Storybrooke citizens. She also spoke about the strange courtship between Nova and Grumpy. Whenever they raised the topic of the people who suffered the curse, Emma finds herself wary. Regina politely and distantly reacts to those news. It was as if she were afraid that at any moment they would show up with the mob's thirst for revenge. The truth is, every now and then, some of them would get together and remember that Storybrooke wasn't all bad. Ruby certainly missed being free of her wolf; she liked the theory that her wolf manifested as her uber-flirtatious ways in their alternate life. Emma was quick to counter that in any existence, Ruby was meant to be a horndog.

"About this panic room..." Emma started as soon

"I think the castle is fortified enough with physical and magical means without having to add to it. Anyway, you have enough experts and magical beings at your disposal to help you achieve whatever you want. I don't see why you have to ask an ex-sorceress."

"Heh. Sorceress. It makes you sound like an 80s cartoon character."

"I do appreciate your efforts to keep me occupied."

"That's not—"

"Emma," Regina waited until the other woman met her eyes, "Thank you." She straightened up a bit then continued, "Now tell me more about our son. Unless he's misbehaving terribly, in which case he's your son."

"Oh, gee, thanks. I'll have you know that our son is busy with an autobiography of sorts, one tentatively called, The Storybrooke Chronicles of Henry Mills, Prince of Fairy Tale Land. I told him the title sounded stupid." She baited Regina with the last statement and was not disappointed.

"He may be overenthusiastic at times but he is never stupid."

"Well, expect those "Hi, Hello" letters to change soon. Because if your son is as brilliant as you think he is, he might want some input from you."

"You made him write those letters."

"Again, no." Emma began to tidy the table.

"Tell him I think his work is going to be wonderful."

"Will do." While washing the dishes, Emma asked, "Would you be willing to, you know, receive visitors? Friendly visitors, I assure you."

"Again, with the nymphs?" Regina teased.

"I meant Ruby, maybe, and Kathryn and Frederic...others."

After a few moments of silence, Regina said, "You decide. I would, however, request a brief warning before anyone shows up. I wouldn't want to welcome anyone into a sty."

Emma wished everyone could see this Regina; unfortunately, most everyone else wished that Emma saw the Evil Queen instead. "Do you mind if I crash in the guest room, maybe until tomorrow?"

"Hiding from the world, Sheriff Swan?"

"Wanna coddle a slacker? A slacker worth 40 cows, at least?"

"I'll either be in the study or at the garden. If you get hungry and you feel like endangering my kitchen with your lethal skills, find me; touch nothing."

Chores done, Emma wearily plopped down her temporary bed – after taking off her boots. _We're not even dating and already she's changing me. For the fucking better, even._

When she finally asked her mother about the records from Regina's time, Snow told her in a hard voice that they have been destroyed and only the barest of details were to be included in the newer records. The purging had been necessary, she said, because they were testament to the shame that their kingdom now bear because of Regina's many atrocities.

"She probably doesn't even remember most of them. I do hope she remembers Lord Bertrand, who was killed by his own wife. She did it in exchange for Regina sparing their children. The Queen was just starting out then, warming up, so to speak. He was singled out because he was like an uncle to me."

Emma thought she knew, or could guess, how Regina earned the title Evil Queen. But reconciling that with the Regina of New Storybrooke is doing her head in. This Regina – her Regina, really, since she's the only one who gets to see her like this – her Regina was a woman who must have been such a tender soul at some point to have been so utterly deluged by pain and anger that she ultimately chose vengeance as her path. Too many people were so eager to vilify her for her choices without bothering to take her circumstances into account. 

"_She changed," Ruby said, "back in Storybrooke, with Henry. I could sense it, I didn't know what it was at the time or how I could possibly know it. But the anger lessened, even back then. Until the long-lost saviour arrived and she was on hyper-alert mode."_

"_Hey, the kid came looking."_

"_Yeah, you watch that boy or he will make you a grandmother all too soon."_

"_Oh, fuck you for that. Stop messing with me."_

"_Imagine how fun it would be to use that to mess with your mother."_

The current arrangement for Regina was always meant to be temporary; Emma argued that keeping her there would be tantamount to keeping her buried alive and alone, impervious to time and safe from death. Sooner or later, she would wish for death, likely driven to it by her solitude – _the worst curse imaginable_, as the woman herself described it.

Emma's primary reason for going to this Storybrooke was not because she wanted to be kind; she was drawn here by curiosity and a sense of alienation from her new and charmed life. This house was a reminder of the things she knew, the life she had before Henry came to find her. In a way, she was the Swan who would always be the ugly duckling, the oddity. She was a symbol for the happy endings that they wanted and fought for. And Henry was the happiest of endings, the future king who belonged, who was adored. Emma would have endured anything to see him so happy and content; She now understood Regina's efforts to keep her from upending his life.

But now, this limbo she intrudes upon, this is where she feels most her self. This place that houses those who do not quite belong - this is the place her heart seeks out.

Emma falls asleep as she imagines Sidney back in Storybrooke writing the following headline: _Sheriff voluntarily locks self inside cell, possibly suffering from Reverse Stockholm Syndrome._


	8. Chapter 8

Sic Semper Tyrannis

Note: Sorry for the absence. This is a really short one but I tried to make up for it with a Tina Fey quote. Thank you to all those readers who drop reviews and comments :)

Chapter Eight

Emma woke up suddenly from a strange dream where Regina was tied to a tree that inexplicably sat in the middle of Storybrooke's main street. She was wielding a sword in front of a truly hostile cast of characters. In the next flash, Regina's hands were unbound and Emma was handing her the sword. "You've earned this much," said her dream self as she stepped back to let the Mayor take her own life.

She got up to open a window and saw Regina tending to her backyard, almost a picture of a yuppie on a weekend. Emma, thought of Boston and Storybrooke and how magic could screw things up so badly. Chasing down one lowlife after another was a shitty existence but at least she had a good grasp of what her life was. She would trade it all back save for knowing Henry. His writing aspirations have been relegated to the side, overtaken by more boisterous activities but he remained as insatiable about learning the past and present of his new home. On a rare night when he came into her room for a chat, she pointedly ask him, "Was she a bad mother, really?"

"Geesh, stop with the Mom glare, already." He whined after finally admitting that no, Regina wasn't a bad mother.

That controlling, uber-organized woman who reared her son is now headed indoors, finished with yet another task that serves no true purpose.

A plan came to Emma as she held her pendant and transported herself into her room. She scribbled a quick note telling Regina that she remembered some urgent thing to do. First she needed to see Nova or Sister Astrid, who was the one fairy she knew that would not be entirely under the thumb of the Little Big Sister. There's always a magical loophole somewhere and Gold's death proved that. Then she would set out for Red's home, built since they returned from Storybrooke but literally a few yards away from Granny's.

"So you're telling me you have this backstage pass to the Mayor's house and you want me to what, now?" Ruby asked with a smirk.

The loophole that Nova suggested was alarmingly simple: the pendant was enchanted and designed to transport Emma, but the chain was not. So long as the pendant was in contact with Emma, it could be attached to a chain that could hold a village and the Big Blue would remain unaware of how many people could piggyback with Emma to and from the mansion. Of course, it would have to be a really small village, since there are but a few who could or would want to see the Mayor.

"We'll see if this plan works, then after you maybe Kathryn would want to go. And, you know, Henry, eventually..." She added mischievously, "We both know you're dying to go. I mean how many Femme Formidables are running around here?"

"And if my beautiful self gets shredded by magic?"

"You won't."

A raised eyebrow joined the challenging grin on Red's face.

Emma decided to push another button, "Look, I'm just trying to be a humane warden here. She's a prisoner who spends most of her time in solitary confinement, refined confinement, but a really small jail cell in terms of social interaction." She knew that the fear of being thrown in small quarters, whether real or one made out people's misconceptions was something that run deep in the other woman.

"Tell me how we're going to do this, Watson."

"I don't get to be Holmes?"

"No. You've won enough for the day, I think."

"Okay, so we both wear the chain but the pendant stays on me. I drop you off, yes, provided that you think only Happy Regina Thoughts instead of Die, Regina, Die! Thoughts. I leave, and you would use the magical paper I will give you to give me a message when you want to go. It should work."

"It SHOULD. Otherwise you and only you will get to tell my grandmother how I perished because of your pimp ways."

"I want you to say hello, not drop trou. So you're in, right?"

"You are acting like Henry on a sugar rush. Yes, I am in. Please try to not get me killed."

"You'll be casual, right?"

"Lord of the Flies! I won't be asking her deep probing questions like some news outlet sent me. I will use utensils. I shall wipe my feet on the mat outside her house."

"Fine, it's just you're sort of a...twist to her guest list."

"And that's a rhyming way of saying that I'll be dropping in unannounced on one of the scariest women ever."

Emma gave her a trademarked sheepish grin. "It won't be boring, though. For both of you."

"Is there a love note of some kind I'm supposed to give her from you? Some pointed questions to see if she like likessss you?" Red decided that given the risks she's about to take, she was entitled to give Emma some pain.

"That was just some weird interest on her that cropped up. It is over. I've moved on."

"To?"

"August isn't that bad."

"Knocking on wood, eh?" Red laughed a little at her own joke, "Not your speed and we knowzzzz it."

"Wow, Bitch much?" Emma retaliated with a dig on her wolf side.

"We get stuff done."

"Tonight, then."

Emma started back for the castle, hoping that for Regina, the surprise would be a welcome one.


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Notes: To the few who still read this, and those who reviewed or added this to their story lists, thank you! Please bear with the logical loopholes and enjoy the ride :)

Chapter 9

"Open up, ladies! Guess who's friends with Grumpy who's very friendly with the kind, trusting Nova?"

"Dammit! I think I liked him best when he stayed away..." Emma grumbled towards her chamber doors, motioning for Red to stay put.

August grinned, as the slight opening revealed a cross blonde.

"What will it take to get you away from here?"

"Ouch. That's not a nice way to greet your favored suitor, Your Highness."

"Fake favor."

"Shall we announce your displeasure with me and encourage more of those rabid potential spouses, then?"

Emma opened the door wider and allowed him to pass.

"Nice digs made even nicer by a big, bad, sexy wolf..."

"Woody." Red smirked at their unexpected guest. Pinocchio, or August, as they knew him then, was one of few true friends that she and Emma shared. The fact that the two of them experienced the world outside Storybrooke bonded them in ways that even she could not fully comprehend. His youthful decision to abandon Emma was to start a chain of events that made for an unhappy childhood for the blonde; had he not done so, however, there would most likely be no Henry to light all their lives. He was more than happy to act as a beard for Emma against the many who are lining up to be added to the House of Charming, via the beautiful, brave, and loyal White Knight. Sadly, most of them are trying to marry her for what they perceive her to be instead of who she truly is, and Emma deserves so much more. The blonde would ridicule her for such a thought but Ruby believes that being born of true love must mean that Emma herself is destined to find it, despite the young woman's predisposition towards shunning commitment and emotional intimacy.

"Can I come with?"

"No." Emma answered firmly. She calls him the brother she never wanted, but it went unspoken that they were as good as siblings. She knew that right now she was dealing with the side of August that never grew out of the age of six.

Ruby looked on in amusement as August repeatedly nodded towards Emma in an attempt to get her support.

"C'mon, life in the kingdom is grand and all, but I miss adventure. And Regina Mills just oozes adventure, you know what I mean? Help me out here, Red."

"Oh, no. You and your libido should be kept away from magic."

"She's not some circus freak for you to gawk at, August." Emma said as she continued their preparations, taking a handful of the enchanted notepads with her. "Besides, even the most basic wards in the place will keep you and your jewels out of there."

"Nuh-uh. See, cause I don't want to harm her... I want to charm her." He finished off with exaggerated eyebrow motions that had Ruby guffawing. "I can be charming despite not being a Charming, and Regina Mills, former Evil Queen and former Mayor of Storybrooke, deserves to be Charmed, and Charmed hard."

At this point Ruby started to have tears in her eyes from laughing, and Emma's eyes darted from one friend to another. She knew what the inside joke was but struggled to ignore it to keep the worms inside the can, so to speak.

"And that, ladies of the jury, is why I, August Booth, should be allowed to join you in this quest to enter the fortress called Second Storybrooke."

"Here, finish getting ready while I talk to this fool." Emma handed Ruby the papers, and hauled August by his arm toward the balcony of her room.

"There's no need to be pissed, I was just kidding. I don't want to risk magically getting girl parts where my boy parts ought to be."

"Good to know your priorities are still very much predictable."

"I can't believe you're the same woman who adamantly refused to believe in magic. And now you're playing with it the way a child would run with sharp scissors."

Emma heard the big brother dig and gave August her well-honed look of a smirk coupled with a raised eyebrow, "I'm the Savior, danger bounces off of me."

August smiled indulgently at her; Emma remembered the look from their previous life, back when he was itching to tell her a big secret.

"What?"

He grabbed her shoulders and gently squeezed them, "Baby Emma is all grown up, and wanting her friends to meet her scary lady crush. We've all sensed the tension since way back in Maine, you know. It has that poetic, full circle thing."

Emma rolled her eyes. His statement confirms that at some point Ruby has spilled the beans about her confirming her attraction for Regina. But really, they were very small, insignificant, and now non-existent beans.

"Wait for me here, Doofus, and if you see guards or anyone else around, pretend to be a lovestruck idiot hoping to get lucky with me."

"Just let me come in and give some last minute messages to Red."

"Once were gone, try not to fall off the balcony and deprive me of the chance to push you myself."

As another peaceful day was winding down in the realm ruled by the Charmings, outside the castle a lovely, plump, old woman was on her way to her temporary lodgings, an inn close to the castle. She managed to get a tour of palace that was once ruled by the Evil Queen; she was bemused by how many tried to avoid using the phrase, as if it would bring back the once feared woman back in the throne. A kindly palace guard was taken in by the enthusiasm and glee she exhibited at arriving in the place ruled and sustained by true love; he let her have a quick (well, as quick as her aging legs would allow) walk in the grounds. In that guise, Cora was able to sense that Regina was still alive and somewhere near, probably kept comfortable by the bleeding hearts on the throne. The girl was the burden she had to bear for the power granted her by the sorcerer; once grown she was, briefly, a valuable commodity. Then she went and grew up, and there were moments that Cora almost feared her. The old woman was unpleasantly surprised at the discovery that Regina was immune to her magic, a gift that the child's true father must have somehow arranged at his passing. At the height of Regina's power, she was forced into hiding from those misguided fools who would think that hurting her would somehow hurt Regina and worse, she was forced to hide from Regina herself. But her interest in keeping Regina alive now had to do with the untapped power of those mines. She was certain that after such a spectacular fall from power, it would be easy for her to make Regina feel helpless enough to stay under her thumb, but bitter and angry enough for that rage to continue to taint the dust that was to build her a throne all her own, and not just one she ran from behind the scenes, like the nearby fiefdom she all but owned now. King Homer was never going to be the warrior type, but he was always warm and pleasant. All that changed when a previously unknown "aunt" started staying in the palace. Most everyone in the humble palace has seen and talked to her, but if quizzed, all one would get from them are vague descriptions of a well-dressed, impeccably mannered and regal matriarch. Before her arrival, the king was almost a figurehead, given that their small kingdom had little to worry about, with the little resources they offer, unlike their neighbour with its vast borders and its famous royalty. The forbidding forest between them and the late King Leopold's castle made them much less of a target for those who wished Snow White and his family harm; while the Evil Queen ruled, those who would wish to oppose her are easily dissuaded by the uncertainty of what wards, creatures, or loyal guards lurked within its beauty.

"I am NOT dead. And that is a good start." Red declared after not too subtly running her hands over her person to make sure she was all there.

"Yes, and that saves Granny an attempt to kill me."

"There is no "attempt" when it comes to that woman and her kill. She gets her prey. You would be wise to remember that."

"Sure, but I gots this puppy dog look that Henry inherited. Get it? Puppy dog look?"

"It's a good thing you're royalty, Emma. That helps make up for your awful sense of humor."

"You forgot my shiny, pretty hair. And my savior rep."

"Tell me, Savior Princess, how long are we going to stand outside this door waiting for you to grow a pair?"

"Okay, for the last time, our cover story is that you nagged me for this opportunity because you miss Storybrooke, too."

"Which is true. I'm just going to omit the part about being very curious about our ex-Queen, who was magically neutered a while back."

"Remember to play nice." Emma then added, "but not too nice...and I know you know what I mean."

"Give me some credit here. I'll maybe start the moves on the third visit."

"No moves."

"Are we going to ring the bell at some point or are we here to block the doorway?"

As Emma did just that, she was struck by how nervous she felt, and how some part of her would be relieved if Regina failed to answer the door. She belatedly thought that she should have brought something, maybe a conjured DVD or bottle of wine. _You're not the guest, Emma, you're just the chauffeur._

"Princess." Regina said curtly, while Emma gave her the expression she wore on that fated day when she brought back Henry, one that was part grimace and part smile. After a beat she expectantly looked at Red, "And..."

"Red would be fine, Mayor-"

"Regina. Please come in."

"I take it you're on some community service program." Regina glanced back at Red as she led them across the foyer to her study.

"Not at all. I practically had to beg her to let me visit."

Regina held the door open as both guests entered. Emma followed Red and made sure to look their hostess in the eye when she added, "Sorry, I couldn't take the whiny noises she made anymore. Who knew people could be nostalgic about indoor heating?"

"Indeed." Regina said flatly. "Rub—Red, would you care for some wine? Or something stronger?"

"I'll have what you're having." Red replied as she busied herself with looking at the shelves, marvelling inwardly at how effective the magic was that recreated the Mayor's Mansion.

"Wine then, let me just get another bottle." Regina moved to go to the kitchen, and Emma quickly followed her.

"I'll go help her out." She tossed the remark to Red, who smirked once the pair was gone.

"Don't mind me, I'm just the third wheel to a pair of oblivious, slow turning ones." She murmured as she continued her exploration, feeling partly like she was walking in a dream world. On the surface, all these comforts would be enough for Emma to want to keep coming back here. But as she reasoned out earlier, Emma could have all these to herself, in whatever form she wished, all she needed was to demand it. It wasn't the modern life that keep drawing her back. Red thought that somehow, amid the cosmic turning and twisting, things were starting to balance out; what Regina lost through Snow White was now being replaced through the child that they had all pinned their salvation upon. Beyond this study, a great story was unfolding. _And why am I still standing here instead of using the amped up hearing that the Gods have given me?_ She began running a line in her head. _Sorry, I was going to ask where the washroom was._

"I am really sorry to spring this on you. I know you said to warn you about guests but I was afraid you might refuse. And we know she wouldn't have passed the protective wards if she were a danger to you. So there's that, at least..." Emma rambled while Regina opened the wine bottle and loaded glasses onto a tray. She could tell by the silence and by the tension coming off the other woman that this experiment was going to cost her.

Regina looked at the blonde and the contrite expression that Regina felt she ought to be able to disregard. After all, Emma knew what she was doing. Allowing someone, no matter how well-intentioned, to come to her home was a reminder of how prisoners, especially in this world, have little choice on the decisions and actions that affect their fate. In this reality, she was the vanquished.

"There's no need for apologies. I'm sure she'll be delightful company."

Emma's heart sank at hearing the old politician facade back in place. "I know that privacy is a big deal -"

"Yet here we are."

To someone who has never felt the helplessness of being a prisoner, the statement would sound like pure Mayor Mills. Emma drew from her knowledge of Regina in this Storybrooke and held on to her intent of giving the other woman a more textured existence to contain the impulse to revert to the role of the insubordinate Sheriff Swan to Regina's stuffy Mayor Mills. She blocked Regina, tray and all, and waited for the other woman to look her in the eye. "I'm sorry. Everyone is not quite sure how to proceed from here, I mean, how to proceed with your, uh, case... and I worry about how by omission we are making you spend all this time in a swanky form of solitary confinement. It's not right."

"The justice system here is much more severe than what you are used to; what you consider humane treatment of a prisoner, we would consider mollycoddling. So absolve yourself of this...discomfort over your perceived violation of some right that I am no longer entitled to. For the sake of our guest, I would appreciate it if you let me pass."

Emma reached out and took one of the wine glasses from the tray, leaving only two for Regina and Red. "I took the risk of making you uncomfortable because I couldn't take the risk of seeing you turn into a ghost. I'm starting to see it in you, in your eyes. It's the hollowed out look some lifers get, those who won't even bother anymore." She took the glass and set it on the counter. "I think you'll remember what this is for," she continued as she took the smallest knife from the block and sliced her left palm, gathering the blood into the wine glass. "The Evil Queen deserves to die, but Regina Mills is worth saving. I hope you choose to be reminded of the very important reason for you to let go of one and save the other." She watched Regina staring at the glass bearing her blood. "You're pushing him away from your mind, just like I did. You're consoling yourself with the idea that he will be happy, and loved, and safe. He will never have a shortage of people who would see to that. Here's the weird thing, though. Even without your magic, above all, you are the one I know who would do everything and anything to keep him safe, including things that he and everyone else might hate you for. Trying to shrink into nothing is not atonement, it's cowardice. You're made of better stuff. You were the Evil Queen for fuck's sake. And stories about redemption were always the most interesting, I think". As she raised her hand to her pendant to leave, she said, "Red knows how to get in touch, but if you need me to fetch her before then, drop me a note."

"Wait."

Emma looked on as Regina seemed to be carefully weighing her words.

"You realize that for both of us to actively parent him you would have to risk being the bad cop in his life now?"

"That's what I said, except, you know, more eloquent and shit."

"Language. Even for peasants cursing is not widely acceptable, you know. Let's start there among the many things that we would have to cover."

Emma smirked and as she picked up the wine glass that she meant to leave for the brunette. "Shall we discuss spanking next?"

Regina carefully took the glass from Emma. "You must swear that he is not to know about my helping you. I want him to live on free of me and my...baggage."

"What and let him be an ungrateful brat?"

"He has a good heart and a brilliant mind. I believe in time, in HIS time," she looked at Emma pointedly, "he will be more charitable towards his estimation of me. Right now, it is for his protection that everyone think that our emotional ties are severed. Let my enemies think that he hates me, which he does right now, and let them also think that I have abandoned him."

"Ah, the complications of raising a prince."

"A fairy tale prince."

"Wow, I can't stop my mind from rushing to the complications of his puberty. Is there, you know, some Peter Pan spell to prevent that from happening?"

"No." Regina answered a little too quickly, allowing Emma's self-proclaimed super power to catch the lie.

"Uh-huh. Let's add that to list of things we need to discuss."

Regina smiled and began to raise her glass, "We have a deal then?"

"We do."

"Did the blue thing tell you how this is supposed to work?"

"Only that I get to choose how you see him through my eyes or through my memories. I think she said something about all other humans and creatures would be a blur to you, for security reasons. Something like that, I think."

"That's not very informative."

"Neither are you."

"This perpetual teenager act you have is part of why I am very wary of this spell that includes a blood binding."

"Scared to have me in you?" There wasn't enough magic in any world to stop Emma from grinning as she watched Regina's eyes starting to squint in irritation. "Maybe your hair will start growing all princess-like. You'd start wearing pastel colors, become cheerful."

She watched as Regina lifted the glass to her lips and closed her eyes as the wine reached her full lips. She opened her eyes and set them upon Emma's, then lets out a faint moan and started sinking towards the floor. Emma darted to catch Regina before she hit the ground, lowering them both gently.

"Regina?" She held the other woman tightly and could feel the deep breaths from the prone figure. "Regina?"

What was left of the wine that Regina drank from was now on the floor, mixed with broken glass. At the sound of glass meeting the pristine marble floors, Red darted from her post just outside of the study, where she was secretly keeping tabs on their hostess and her friend.

"Well this is one way to sweep her off her feet. Didja poison her? Use too much aphrodisiac?"

"No, I did not. And could you please make yourself useful and help me carry her to her bedroom?"

Red was already leaning down to grab Regina's legs and continued on, "Most of that wine is on the floor and I'm thinking that the woman who makes her own cider is not a lightweight at all. So, you must have done something to make her swoon, you badass."

"Red, please," Emma pleaded as they started towards Regina's bedroom. "Do you think we need to get someone to check up on her?"

"First, we get her nice and settled and maybe wait for her to wake up. Then we decide from there."

Once Regina was tucked in bed, Red watched as Emma softly bent down to whisper, "Please be okay, Regina. Please..." Her friend pulled back slowly and gently traced Regina's cheek with the back of her fingers. Red snuck out of the room just as Emma started to sink to her knees next to Regina's bed.

"Open those judgemental, bitchy, brown eyes for me, Regina..." She pleaded as she continued to gently touch the other woman's face. August's words about her being a child running with scissors when it came to magic returned to her mind. She practically blackmailed Regina into this, and the other woman went along with it because she must have been that desperate to connect to their son.

"You're touching me, Swan." Regina softly croaked out, keeping her eyes closed in the spirit of never giving Emma an unearned point.

"No, I'm not," Emma said, trying to keep the smile out of her voice as she continued exploring Regina's face with ghostlike touches. "You're delusional. And you're a lush."

Regina opened her eyes, and looked back at the concerned green eyes above that smirk that she thinks she has seen too much of recently.

"You have magic."

"That's what she said."

The eye-roll was a given before Regina countered with, "You need to quiz the Blue Fairy some more about what the spell means to do, and about what your capabilities are before you go around donating more of your blood to people. I sensed your magic but I don't think she would have let you go through with this without making sure I can't access it."

"Don't worry, babe, you're the only one. I'm not gonna be the magical slut who opens a vein for just anyone who comes along."

After a few moments during which both women seemed to unaware of how intimate they acted, Regina recalled the third person in her home. "Red." Regina uttered before attempting to get up, a move that was quickly prevented by Emma's hand on her shoulder.

"No, I'll send her your apologies and we'll go." She slowly got up and added, "but I'll be back to check on you. If I find any evidence of you having gotten up, even just to change your clothes, I will only show you the back of Henrys head for a week. Maybe more." She walked backwards for a few steps to add a parting shot, "rest and don't wait up, Sweetheart."

Regina's murmured about a black swan as Emma slid out of her bedroom.

Once back in the castle, Emma sent Red to check up on August and asked her to stay over while she herself would check up on Henry and then go back to Regina's.

"Shall I also hide under the covers and pretend to be you while you sneak off?"

"No, I just want to save you the trip home."

"Tell Regina I wish she would get better, okay?"

"About that, you know a healer who maybe isn't so..."

"Scared to death of the Evil Queen?" She debated asking Emma about what transpired in the kitchen, but decided that it would be best to wait until Emma was ready. For now she was content to let both women think that she thought Regina only had a little too much to drink.

"Connected to the palace... is what I was going for. You know, in case, we need it."

They parted shortly after Red promised to ask around, and Emma headed for Henry's room. She passed two guards standing next to an ornate door, which would seem as if within that room was where the young prince slept. In truth it was a decoy, and a simple cupboard full of silverware opens up instead to a lavish room. David and Snow went all out on the measures, magical and otherwise, to keep their grandson safe.

Emma walked softly towards the bed, mindful of the sword-fighting equipment and books and other paraphernalia littered about. When she finally reached him, she runs her hand over his hair and leans to kiss him goodnight. She thought of how she wanted Regina to witness him sleeping peacefully, hair unruly and slightly longer. To light a fire under the woman, she also scanned her eyes around the room, littered with the young boy's treasures.

"Sweet dreams, Kid." She whispered as she touches her pendant to return to Regina's room.

She quickly settles on the bed next to a sobbing Regina who takes her right hand, the one that only moments ago ran through Henry's hair. She softly cups it to her face with her eyes closed, as if trying, by osmosis to feel what Emma's hand felt.

Emma slowly tilted Regina's head towards her and then gathered the woman into her arms.

As Regina sobbed into her chest, she ran the same hand gently through the short brown hair, whispering, "he'll come back to you, Regina. I'll bring him back. He needs you. You're his Mom and he needs you. I'll bring him back to you."

"Emma?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are your hideous boots on my bed?"

"Still delusional, then? There are no hideous boots that are owned by me."

"Next time, could you please take off your shoes?"

"Whatever you say, dear."

"And you could have tidied up a little on your way out of his room. You want him to wake up and break his neck traipsing over all those stuff?"

"That's what I meant when I said he needed you. I'm not a fan of housekeeping. And he knows that and won't listen to me when I tell him to clean up his room. Worse, he'll play the prince card and order someone to do it, despite our efforts to keep him grounded. Well, that's the line the grandparents are telling me, although between you and me, those two would redefine their realities if Henry asked them to believe that the moon is made of yoghurt or something. They're a bit hopeless about not spoiling him, David especially. He practically melts whenever Henry shows up."

Still a little fazed from having magic reintroduced into her system and emotionally drained from seeing Henry in his new life, Regina couldn't help the heaviness in her eyes and limbs. She was sure that Emma's savior complex had nothing to do whatsoever with how safe she felt at the moment. She was too tired to feel anything else. That must be it.

For her part, Emma tried to push away the feeling that this, right here with the former Evil Queen, was the most settled she has ever felt since fairy tales came into her life. There were no monsters here, no saints, either. There were two women trying to deal with what the fates have thrown their way the best way they can, an unusual pairing with a common goal: to protect and love a young boy who would one day be king. When she was certain that the brunette was asleep, she gave soft kiss on top of her head, "Sweet dreams to you too, Regina."

Emma shut her eyes, and was drifting off to sleep by the time the swirling violet and gold haze emanating from them both filled the room.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: Not dead yet, and I have somehow found a way to continue this. Unbeta'ed. Characters belong to others who should just let Swan Queen happen already. Read, review, rant. :) **

Dark and light magic continued to battle within and without the sleeping couple. The mist around them were dancing purple and gold, but soon enough a blinding white light started to emerge from them both.

"Is that supposed to happen? That doesn't look like a curse acting to destroy Regina." Snow White growled towards the Blue Fairy, who, at the moment, is looking turning white with alarm.

"No, Your Highness...I think we've come across something unanticipated."

As the light continues to grow, enveloping and protecting both women, a force emerges from it, sweeping across everything in its path.

Snow White gasped as she recognized that sudden rush she has felt twice before in her life: once when she was woken from a curse, and again when her grandson was saved by her daughter.

"This can't be..."

"It is. You more than I know that one cannot defeat -"

"True love."

A vortex began to form around Emma and Regina and as it begins to consume everything, Snow White's last thought was a prayer to whatever deity could be listening, to whatever force that could help her now, that true love be enough to save Emma, to give her happiness somehow, even if it was with Regina.

Emma Swan opened her eyes, having blown out the candle on her self-bought cupcake. A knock interrupted her trek towards a six-pack in her fridge. She was sure it was no one from work, and absolutely not one of the string of occasional fuck buddies she kept on file. Her birthdate was one of the rare things she truly knew about her origins, and she made sure to keep it sacred. She opened the door to find a small face hidden under a mop of hair.

"Are you Emma Swan?"

"Maybe. Shouldn't you be home somewhere, Kid?"

"I am. I'm your son, Henry. Henry Blanchard."

Shortly after feeding the boy and trying to navigate between getting him to stop talking about some childish curse and getting him to start talking about directions to his real home, the rest of her birthday was spent driving to Storybrooke, Maine. As her beloved and battered car passed beyond the quaint welcome sign, Emma felt that her life is about extremely complicated.

Across town, the hand of the clock tower started to move. Regina Mills felt an odd sensation pass through her, but she dismissed it as coming from fatigue. When Daniel died, she threw herself into making Mills Bakery a successful business. Her mother never approved of him nor of her plan to earn her own money. Her father had, over the years, given up any semblance of being an individual, and resigned himself to being controlled by his wife. She had pinned her hopes of making a happy life with Daniel, and his death shortly after their engagement nearly broke her. Paradoxically, it was the tyranny of her mother that made her push on. She was no weakling, and she won't make herself vulnerable again. She gave up the fairy tale of a happy ever after with anyone. She had dalliances, of course, with Ruby being the most memorable, and also the most fleeting. Graham was the most recent, and he was starting to get demanding, which signalled to Regina that it was getting near the time to end their fling. To be a successful, independent, smart, and desirable woman, she supposed, was as happy an ending as she could get. As she walked to her Mercedes Benz, she watched in bemusement as a lemon of a car throttled by and broke the silence she was enjoying. She expected that like most unfamiliar cars, it would pass through their fiefdom and be gone by the morning.


End file.
